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HK Touch appears to be part of the HKRFU, so I'm not sure how co-operative they are going to be about helping out League, still always an opportunity to reach out I guess...they technically are part of the Federation of International Touch, which means they would be playing under League rules, so if nothing else, they will have players who may associate with League.

 

Anyway keep up the good work Diehard! Remember they said places like Lebanon, Canada and Jamaica would never take up the code, yet look at them now...

I'm sure there are RL fans involved in HK Touch because there's no RL alternative and they want an oval ball fix and a bit of fun. Maybe not a lot of people, but I'd bet there are some, and some of those may be useful connections.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The trolling post(s) that prompted this response from Diehard have been removed, but I'm leaving this response as it is, as it makes many valid points on the subject under discussion, even though the tone of it feels a bit odd now it is somewhat out of context. Just thought it worth adding this comment to clarify that, rather than remove this whole post as well.

 

Back to the discussion...

Thanks for the quality moderation. I'm well advised by the collective internationalists here.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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  • 2 months later...

This Saturday we are organising a meet up to coincide with the Four Nations in Hong Kong.

 

Event info is here: CLICK HERE

 

We have had some great offers of support from many talented people. So it is exciting.

 

We are looking forward to enjoying some Rugby League among fellow lovers of the great sport.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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Meet up was a great success. Got to meet some passionate RL supporters who I have been corresponding with and now we can move forward together.

 

We will have events every week during the Four Nations. And afterwards have a more formal meeting about HKRL.

 

It was a lot of fun and it was great to meet fantastic lovers of the game. There are a lot of skills and experience we can draw on and I am sure there are more people we can recruit.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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We have some keen Internationalists. At least two people in the group were at the World Cup Finals. And we have some people interested in playing.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Once again the HKRL crew will be meeting at Delaneys Wan Chai at 3.30 to watch the Final.

 

All welcome. Be part of the team and the road ahead.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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So we had a fantastic meeting, full of brand new RL fans (To HKRL group) and keen internationalists.

We had many people wearing Kangaroos and Kiwis jerseys.

Lots of ideas. Lots of experience and skills. Including members of current RU clubs and former RL players.

We also agreed to start a touch footy team in a couple of weeks. We will call it the 13s, just so people know that we are the Rugby League guys.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

HONG KONG RUGBY LEAGUE ESTABLISHED

 

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Rugby League’s continued push into Asia took a significant step forward this week with the formation of the Hong Kong Rugby League.

Joining the likes of Thailand, Japan and the Philippines, the Hong KongRugby League has been established to promote the growth and interest in all forms of the code in Hong Kong.

At the inaugural Annual General Meeting held on Saturday the 6th of December 2014 the first Hong Kong Rugby League board was established.

The inaugural Hong Kong Rugby League board consists of:

Chairman: James Hall
Secretary: Ray Meli
Treasurer: Ian Molyneux
Board Member: Brad Newman
Board Member: Jason Fairleigh
Board Member: Jack Muir
Board Member: Malcolm Pratt 
Board Member: Daniel Mascord

In early 2015 the HKRL board will work hard to establish Rugby League by organising a wide ranging fixture list which will include international matches with the Hong Kong Thunder as well as local representative, domestic, junior, school and touch football. 

"We are very excited as a group about giving Rugby League a presence here in Hong Kong. We have put together a board of talented and most importantly enthusiastic people who can push the sport forward in Hong Kong." said inaugural HKRL Chairman James Hall.

"Our hopes for the future are high with regards to getting both adults and juniors playing Rugby League in and for this exciting country. Looking further down the road we can see Hong Kong, with it's geographical positioning, being a venue of great interest to the global Rugby League community."

"If you have any interest in playing, supporting or volunteering then please get in touch as we have some exciting plans in place for 2015."

The Hong Kong Rugby League is honoured to be the custodians of the great game in Hong Kong and will use their passion and experience to take Rugby League to great heights in Hong Kong and internationally, especially with our Asian neighbours.

Further announcements about the Hong Kong Rugby League will be made in the coming weeks.

To find out more or to get involved, please visit the website at www.hongkongrugbyleague.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hkrugbyleague or email on info@hongkongrugbyleague.com

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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Wonderful news. 

 

Having been at the founding of similar initiatives I hae a few bits of advice that you are welcome to ignore.

 

Be bold, you have nothing to lose.

 

The exceptions here are be careful, not vain with finances, and keep your word.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

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Good luck to you all the best, I think touch rugby league in schools would be the way to introduce locals to the sport  

It all depends on the infastructure.  We found that we were able to get rugby league into schools fairly easily.  But what then?  The occasional lesson is great, but people have jobs.  Even if you have a PE teacher at a school, it is hard work to get a competition going. 

 

It is often best to start with seniors, not least as they will become volunteers with time.  That said, if mothers are released, it is an uncontrollable but powerful force.

"You clearly have never met Bob8 then, he's like a veritable Bryan Ferry of RL." - Johnoco 19 Jul 2014

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It all depends on the infastructure.  We found that we were able to get rugby league into schools fairly easily.  But what then?  The occasional lesson is great, but people have jobs.  Even if you have a PE teacher at a school, it is hard work to get a competition going. 

 

It is often best to start with seniors, not least as they will become volunteers with time.  That said, if mothers are released, it is an uncontrollable but powerful force.

University teams, if established can provide a steady source of players for external senior teams. Easier than working with schools, where the investment needs to be widespread and across years to produce results.

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University teams, if established can provide a steady source of players for external senior teams. Easier than working with schools, where the investment needs to be widespread and across years to produce results.

 

University is one area we haven't given a lot of thought to, yet.

 

Good luck to you all the best, I think touch rugby league in schools would be the way to introduce locals to the sport  

 

We have already had some great interest from schools here and there are a lot of Rugby League lovers who are teachers, myself included. Stay tuned.

 

Wonderful news. 

 

Having been at the founding of similar initiatives I hae a few bits of advice that you are welcome to ignore.

 

Be bold, you have nothing to lose.

 

The exceptions here are be careful, not vain with finances, and keep your word.

 

Thank you, wise advice. We have some quality people involved and we are taking a very methodical approach. Many have a lot of experience in Rugby League.

 

We think we have plenty of natural advantages in Hong Kong.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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i taught English in south Korea for a year at a junior high school could most probably have introduced touch rugby to students at my school if i had have stayed another year any form of full contact rugby league would have been almost impossible to intoduce! would have been English sport / language lesson/ with pe teachers involvement.i remember the deputy principal at my school was concerned student would get injured i explained that touch rugby didnt involve tackling an included male and female players i dont think he totally realised what i was talking about but certain that if i convinced him it was safer than soccer school would have allowed touch rugby league...

 

while in Korea in 2008 i got back into touch rugby in a big way and many of the expat people who were involved in touch were former league players from nz / oz / uk,. after playing touch on one occasion a mainly expat side union side the Seoul survivors was training at the same ground and they had a game of league as a part of practice so i joined in... 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Things progressing well in Hong Kong.

 

Our first social event of the season, in support of the NRL Nines. A concept we believe has a big future in Hong Kong.

 

Click here for facebook event 

 

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DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This week we speak to some players involved with starting the brand new National Rugby League in Hong Kong. We also speak to Renee a new resident to Hong Kong and touch rugby enthusiast.

 

Before you ask, Im not in the video. I was sick.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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Thanks to Matthew Brown at the Rugby League Planet for his interest in HKRL and doing a story on us!

 

Hong Kong Rugby League - Future is bright!

Hong Kong is a small island nation off the south coast of the People’s Republic of China. Although small, it has a population of over 7 million people and is considered one of the Economic epicentres of Asia, if not the world! It is known for its big skyline buildings, deep harbour, home of Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee and thousands of businesses from around the globe. It has also hosted many international sporting events such as the IRB Rugby 7s, East Asian Games, Olympics, Tennis and Football tournaments.

Thanks to mainly ex-pats living on the small Asian Island, Rugby League is beginning to come to life. I got into communication with Brad Newman, an Australian currently living and working in Hong Kong who is helping Rugby League develop.

How it began

Rugby League has been popular on the island for a while now due to a large amount of UK, New Zealand and Australian expats. The problem had been that there has never been an official organisation or competition to help kick start the sport. In 2014, a Facebook page was created to help promote starting Rugby League in Hong Kong. After a few get togethers during the 2014 Four Nations tournament between interested parties, the concept was immediately created. Plans were made to have a meeting in early December to officially start an organisation of progressing the sport in the nation. From this meeting, the Hong Kong Rugby League organisation was established.

Hong Kong Rugby League at Present

Currently, Brad and the HKRL run social touch games every Monday night. They are hoping to turn it into a competition and create both Touch and Tag Rugby League which will become important tools for Rugby League development. Although a 13 a side format has not been established yet, they are hoping on Anzac Day (25th of April) to have an Open Day for interested players. There are also plans for school boy rugby league, kid’s clinics and a Nines tournament during the event.

Social events are key with HKRL plans as well. During the Auckland 9s, a bar in Wan Chai was chosen so interested fans and supporters of the project to socialise with others to create a community. This way individuals don’t get home sick and it helps create a healthy social scene for all involved with the sport.

Representative Fixtures and Future plans

Just as Australia has its version of State of Origin, Hong Kong will have its own version as well. The game will be Hong Kong Islands vs Kowloon- New Territories and will be played at Victoria Harbour. It is hoped that this will gain attention for the sport and bring in new individuals to the game. A national team representing Hong Kong (Hong Kong Thunder) is pencilled in to take on another Asian nation, the opponents however have yet to be chosen. The Thunder name was chosen due to the massive storms and typhoons which batter Hong Kong and their colours will be red, white and black.

At the end of the year, the board will review how their first year went. A full-fledged domestic competition are also in the plans of the HKRL board. Brad feels the future is bright for the game in HK because many players, volunteers, coaches and referees have put their hands up to help expand Rugby League in the tiny island nation. His comments couldn’t be truer because with Rugby League expanding across the Asian continent and the Asian-Pacific Federation supporting International Rugby League expansion, Hong Kong looks like it will have a big future a head of it both domestically and Internationally!

http://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/rug...ture-is-bright

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DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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XB-HKRL-Banner-update-1.jpg

 

"We are pleased to announce that XBlades, Australia's leading sports brand, will become HKRL's Official Kit Supplier for 2015. We will be working closely with XBlades to develop the Hong Kong Rugby League national kit, merchandise as well as being supported by their footwear and protective wear. 

James Hall - HKRL's Chairman: "We are very happy to have signed up with XBlades, who we feel produce high quality team wear and footwear, and importantly have a strong heritage in Rugby League with teams like Balmain Tigers, Cronulla Sharks and Parramatta Eels in Australia and also Castleford Tigers in the UK. "

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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10994467_507736106033628_681345948086929

 

HKRL is in the UK now with our Chairman James Hall and Secretary Ray Meli visiting for the World Club Series and to meet with British Rugby League officials!

 

They were also invited to have the honour of addressing the Rugby League Parliamentary Group!

 

James and Ray will soon arrive home in Hong Kong and will share with us a full report of their adventures.

 

It's safe to say our entry into the Rugby League world has been warmly welcomed and we are excited about the role we have to play in the future.

 

Hong Kong Rugby League aims to be an international player. We are delighted that James and Ray took the time and effort to show this with their current trip. Well done lads!

 

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DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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Ray Meli popped into St Albans Centurions and met up with some of our committee members last night.

Great bloke and really enthusiastic about Hong Kong Rugby League.

 

528398_orig.jpg

 

It's on our website - http://stalbanscenturions.weebly.com/

Jam Eater  1.(noun. jam eeter) A Resident of Whitehaven or Workington. Offensive.  It is now a term of abuse that both towns of West Cumbria use for each other especially at Workington/Whitehaven rugby league derby matches.

St Albans Centurions Website 

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Ray Meli popped into St Albans Centurions and met up with some of our committee members last night.

Great bloke and really enthusiastic about Hong Kong Rugby League.

 

528398_orig.jpg

 

It's on our website - http://stalbanscenturions.weebly.com/

 

Wow thanks for sharing. I put it on the HKRL facebook page.

 

Thanks for the hospitality and support! We really want to have a reputation of getting around internationally, meeting people and organising. And of course playing.

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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We Need You! - HKRL Schools Competition and Clinics 

 

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School Forum - 6:30pm 10 March 2015 - Australian International School

 

Having a vibrant schools competition in Hong Kong is incredibly important to us. It will be an essential part of Hong Kong Rugby League.

 

Fortunately we have had many expressions of interest from schools from around Hong Kong and we are keen to build this into a well supported schools program.

Drawing off the experience of Secretary Ray Meli who has a background in children's football development in the Hong Kong school system as well as other members of HKRL who are experienced teachers and coaches we hope to deliver a successful program. Our team also has qualifications in education and sport development.

 

Initially with the help of some very experienced coaches we plan to introduce children to two different forms of a non contact variety of league known as Touch Rugby and then move on to OzTag. These forms of the game help develop confidence and the basic skills required to play 9 and 13 a side Rugby League.

 

We invite interested parties to attend a special forum we are holding about Rugby League in Schools.

 

This will take place at the Australian International School on the 10th of March 2015 from 6:30pm.

 

We would like Principals, Heads of Sport, PE Teachers, school coaches, teachers, teaching assistants and parents to join us.

 

We also would love to see people who want to help us conduct the competition, so if you want to help out as a coach, referee or 1st aid officer you are most welcome.

 

HKRL understands that different schools will have different levels of experience and resources, to this end we want to offer as much assistance and support as we can to these schools.

 

If you would like to attend please ring Jason Fairleigh on 69091168 or Ray Meli on ray@hongkongrugbyleague.com and 64449421.

 

If you are unable to attend, but would still like to be involved in this exciting project please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

DIEHARD / TITAN / MAROON / KANGAROO

 

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